You're Paying an Agency to Look Busy

Penguin penalty. Anchor over-optimization. No real authority.

Their blog posts won't get you out of this. A Real SEO expert will.

The Penalty You're Living Under

You've Been Penalized by Google's Penguin Algorithm

Finding — we audited your link profile and anchor patterns: it's money-anchor heavy, brand/URL light, and padded by low-value directories.
Problem: This is Penguin-style over-optimization → resulting in algorithmic suppression. Your link equity is discounted; rankings stall putting you on page 7.
Solution: We need to remove or dillute anchors to get a ratio of Brand/URL ≈70%, Generic ≈20%, Money ≤10% (≤3–5% exact); replace low-value links with brand-forward editorial citations.
Matlin Injury Law website screenshot (cropped) Google Penguin mascot overlapping screenshot

The Current SEO Agency Is Wasting Your Money On Spam

Links Without Traffic Rarely Build Trust With Google

Finding — we reviewed your referring domains and placements: too many thin directories and promo networks (e.g., attorney "listings") that don't rank for real keywords and have a history of penalties/devaluations.
Problem: You're paying for links that create risk without authority; Penguin discounts the pattern. To the right is attorneyhelp.org — a site that links to you — but as you can see from the downward traffic trend (orange line), Google has penalized this site too and the affiliation is hurting you.
Solution: Disavow/retire junk, replace with links humans read (local orgs, media, partner pages), and re-write risky anchors to brand/URL.
Ahrefs overview of attorneyhelp.com showing downward trend

Your Anchor Text Ratio Looks Like You Paid For Links

Google Penguin targets paid links, penalizing sites that obviously violate their guidelines.

Current Mix (518 anchors)

  • Brand / URL / Naked: 223 (43.0%)
  • Money (commercial/legal terms): 168 (32.4%)
  • Generic / Other: 127 (24.5%)

Safe Targets (Post‑Penguin)

  • Brand / URL: ~70% (≈363)
  • Generic / Other: ~20% (≈104)
  • Money: ≤10% total (≈52), exact‑match ≤3–5%

The Gap

  • Money is ~116 occurrences too high (168 → ≤52).
  • Brand/URL is ~140 occurrences too low (223 → ≈363).
  • This can’t be solved by “more blogs.” It’s a link/anchor problem.

Solution

Focus on diluting the percentage of anchors that look “paid” using money terms by diversifying the portfolio with brand‑based links.

To rank at the top, we have to close the authority gap.

Page-Level Trust Is the Battleground

Finding — DR/UR are proxies showing how links pass authority from site to site. We're falling behind.
  • You (Martlin): DR 26 / UR 16
  • Rector: DR 16 / UR 19
  • Ted Bills: DR 7 / UR 15
  • Springs (Leader): DR 38 / UR 26
Problem: You're competitive vs. most, but you fall behind Springs on page-level authority that actually drives the rankings.
Solution: Build links to normalize anchors + sustained Digital PR & podcast to push UR on money pages past 26, then 28.
martlininjurylaw.com
DR / UR
DR 26
UR 16
rectorlawfirm.com
DR / UR
DR 16
UR 19
tedbills.com
DR / UR
DR 7
UR 15
springslawgroup.com
DR / UR
DR 38
UR 26

Packages & Investment (PPC Included Either Way)

Choose the Path: Cleanup-Only vs. Cleanup + Authority

Option A — Cleanup

$5,000/mo
90-Day Sprint

Goal: Exit Penguin risk; normalize anchors.

  • Link audit, disavow, anchor-edit outreach (prioritized)
  • Directory de-indexing where applicable
  • Internal linking & siloing
  • Irrelevant content removal
  • Technical trust fixes (schema/privacy)
  • PPC management included (capture demand while organic recovers)

After 90 days: Ongoing link building available at $5,000/mo

Option B — Cleanup + Authority Building

$8,000/mo
90-Day Sprint + Ongoing

Everything in Option A plus sustained Digital PR and white-label podcast guest engine (brand-forward editorial links, show-notes links, guest cross-links).

  • Everything from Option A
  • Sustained Digital PR campaign
  • White-label podcast guest engine
  • Brand-forward editorial links
  • Show-notes links, guest cross-links
  • Targeted authority acquisition in line with the Authority Gap table (catch up → tie → beat)
  • PPC management included (own the funnel end-to-end)

After 90 days: Continue authority building at $5,000/mo for sustained growth

Contact Michael McDougald to Get Started

Call or email and we’ll kick off your 90-day sprint to exit suppression and build real authority.

Call 615-336-417

michael@rightthing.agency